Works such as retaining-walls, wharves, and piers.



S. I.. RAVIER.

WORKS SUCH AS RETAINING WALLS, WHARVES, AND`PIERS.

Mmc/111011 FILED AP11.13,1915.

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S. L. RAVIER.

' WORKS sucH As RETAINING wALLs, wHARvEs, AND MERS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. I3, I9I5.

Patented J une 26, 1917.

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SYLVAIN LOUIS RAVIER, OF PARIS, FRANCE.

WORKS SUCH AS RETAINING-WALLS, WHABVES, AND PIERS.

Application led April 13, 1915.

To all whom t may concern.'

' Be it known that I, SYLVAIN Louis RA- VIER, a citizen of the French Republic, and resident of Paris, France, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Works such as Retaining-Walls, Wharves, and Piers, of which the following is a specication.

This invention relates to works such as retaining-walls, wharves and piers and it consists in the novel construction of the same and arrangement of parts with special reference to their stability, solidity, easy execution and economy.

The invention substantially consists in equilibrating the wall by means of anchoring-plates placed, according to the natural arrangement of the ground or earth masses, at the end of tie-bars before effecting the embankment or filling up behind the wall. The length of each of such tie-bars being proportioned to the height of the point in the wall whereon or wherefrom the same is fastened or hung, that is the lowest tie-bars are shorter. Generally, the tie-bar is slanting so that the anchoring-plate is low and preferably inclined, whereby the latter is more ethcacious; the general arrangement therefore, comprehending a wall with a tie bar hung therefrom and extending downwardly into the earth and provided with suitable inclosing plates.

In addition to this main arrangement, the invention also consists in certain other arrangements which will be fully set forth hereinafter. Y y

The invention more especially contemplates certain methods of carrying out the said arrangements and still more ,particularly a new class of civil engineering, the works of the class in question comprising the application of the aforesaid arrangements.

The nature of the invention will be understood from the following description and also the accompanying drawings which are of coursev given only as examples.

Figures 1 to 8 illustrate three methods of constructing a wall according to my invention.

Fig. 4 is a view of a method used where 'an additional wall is required to be constructed in order to sustain a thrust from the earth side of the embankment.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented J une 26, 1917.

Serial No. 21,174. Y

Fig. 5 is a view of a method employed where great strength of wall is required.

Figs. 6 and 7. are detail views illustrating the manner in which the tie bars are connected to the walls.

, Figs. 8 and 9 illustrate methods of interlocking the wall sections together; and

Figs. 10 and l1 illustrate other methods of connecting the tie bars to the walls.

The accompanying drawings illustrate various methods of constructing a wall within the scope of this invention and the description of the methods will be hereinafter taken up in their order.

There is first provided a wall a which is in general mainly constituted of parts or members placed next each other, either merely set on the ground, or driven into the latter. The said members are either posts or piles, panels or pointed planks. Each member, according to the case, is made of wood, or of steel, or reinforced concrete, or of one or more other materials adapted to the conditions to be satisfied. The exact juxtaposition of eachV member with the preceding one is secured by means of a suitable interlocking means, which each member has on its edge.

The vertical edges of the planks or piles are provided either with a pair of interlocking strips, as shown in Fig. 8, or else one of the edges is formed with a vertical rib and a pair of strips are provided which are adapted to engage the rib and hold the two pile sections in clamped engagement as illustrated in Fig. 9. The builder is thereby enabled to form the wall in a straight line by inserting' the interlocking edge of one pile into its mating edge, one at a time, and at the same time, keeping them in line according to a previously located guiding cord.

y When the wall a is either entirely or partially set up, anchoring plates or blocks c are arranged on the end of tie-bars 5 which are connected with the said wall. The plates or blocks c then are resting on the ground, whatever condition the latter may oifer at this moment, various cases of which are seen in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4L and 5. YVhether the construction be set up entirely above a materially level or horizontal ground, as seen in Figs. l and 2, or the said construction is established in front of an embankment or slope such as that of a railway cutting or a dredging excavation, as seen in Figs. 8, 4; and 5. In such instance, the wall c is placed into a position more or less remote in front of the slope in question and may be established upward on the very foot of the said slope, if local subjections make it necessary, as indicated by Fig. 4. The latter figure relates to an enlargement to be carried out in front of an existing wall, in this instance a wharf-wall. In every case where several anchoring devices are necessary owing to the height of the wall, the lower anchoring devices offer the important particularity of having very short rods and yet being efficacious, in proportion to the depth under the platform, at which the method of operating permits to arrange the saine. Every anchoring-plate placed low may be relatively near each other' without danger when set in a crumbling slope, so that the expense relative to the anchoring'devices appears to be reduced to a minimum. lIf necessary, the manipulation lof the tie-bar and anchoring-plate is made easier when they are hanging by means of a dolphin from a cra1ie-hook`(with as many staples or strings as necessary for sustaining the whole length "of the tie-'bar and the anchoring-plate). If desired, the fastening or hooking ofthe tie-bar with the wall, namely when such fastening has to be effected under water, may take place'by using a device'such as that described in the Belgian Letters Patent tolCoign'et, No. 250,097, dated the 17th of October 1912; the said device eventually receives an improvement such as shown by Figs. 6 and 7, according to v4which the construction of metal, or concrete steel or other material is so devised that'a'guide t of round steel or other material lis previously fastened to the wall a at a: and on which ,a wire-eyelet y, provided on the end of the tie-bar Z) has been arranged on its 'extremity extending upward above the water-level, the said guide automatically causes'th'e spindle m, placed o nthe end of the tie-bar Z2, to come between the hooks'g Q fastened in the wall a and preferably'applied against the ribs of the ,said wall, namely, when a wall of ribbed, pointed planks' or of pile-planks is in question. rlfhe fastening or`hooking so effected loffers the advantage of permitting the tie-bar o to have an inclination variable at a y certain extent, without any inconvenience for the efticaciousness ofthe fastening or hooking; the said variation depends'upon the manner in which the plate cis resting on a more or less irregular ground.

After the tie-bars andplates b and e are placedl into position, the embankment er filling up is made, preferably in amethodic manner, as indicated by the lines 1 1, 2 2, 3 8, 4 4, 5 5 in Figs. l to 5, so as to embed the anchoring plates as much as'possible in the embankment before a thrust is exerted against the wall u., and every 'layer is eventually beaten or otherwise rammed down before the next or following layer is put. The said methodic manner of filling `up may, however, be more or less omitted when the wall, by itself, is holdingv fast sufficiently for resisting moderate thrusts, for instance if a wall of piles or pointed planks or pile-planks driven into the ground to a somewhat important depth is in question; but this manner of ,effecting the embankment is, on the contrary, completed, if desired, by operations such as beating, sprinkling, rolling a steam roller, etc., for raniming down the embankment as soon as the flatter is finished at rst at'acertain distance ybehind the platform and lonly afterwardk against the wall. Thus the embankment vin which the anchoring plates areembedded is as compressed as 'possible before the whole of .the traction is exerted against the vtie-bars, this in view to make impossible a forward motion of the tie-bars and a deformation of the wall when vthe wharf is subjected to a maximum strain.

This system provides for `every contingency in wall building and the changes that may Ebe made in the elementsof the system may be classified as follows: p

Vith kregard to the wall a, the latter may be given a certain inclination when the circumstances require it, its foot may be lodged into a 'little recess hollowed into the stone if va'rock is encountered. v y

WVith regard to the anchoring plate, the latter may eventually have a somewhat oblique direction relative to its tie-bar, as indicated for the lower plate c3 in Fig.5, which so appears as being `inclined and directly loaded 'by the weight of the earth masses over it, although the tie-bar b3 thereof is horizontal. y

Vith 'regard to means for hooking or fastening the tie-bar, a somewhat modified arrangement may be used, such as that in. the form of a hook shownby Figs. 10 and 11. 'Itwill be 'understood thatthe invention is not in any way limitedto those embodiments or forms more particularly set forth herein,`onthe contrary, the invention comprises every modification thereof.

Claims:

l. A shield for earthwork embankments liti comprising in combination a shield formed in sections, .said sections being provided on their verticaledges with interlocking members, a plurality of vertically spaced sockets onthe rearfaces of the sections, a plurality of stay bars, said sockets being adapted to to the lower sockets, and anchorin plates bars adapted to engage said sockets, guidon the ends of the stay bars for ern edding ing means on said sockets and said stay in the earth. bars, and anchoring plates on said stay bars. 2. A shield for embankments, comprising SYLVAIN LOUIS RAVIER. 5 a plurality of sections, interlocking Inem- Witnesses:

bers on each of said sections, a plurality of DE WITT C. POOLE, Jr., sockets on said sections7 a plurality of stay A. PREVOR.

Copies of this patent may 'be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

